A United Airlines plane on a flight from Los Angeles to Sydney has landed at Sydney Airport after the pilot issued a mayday alert. The plane was low on fuel and made the mayday call as a precaution.

United Airlines Boeing 787-9, flight UA839, carrying 194 people, had been on a 15-hour flight to the city from Los Angeles. United Airlines said in a statement Flight 839 landed safely at Sydney Airport’s international terminal “following a mechanical issue”.

“The aircraft taxied to the gate and all customers disembarked normally,” Madhu Unnikrishnan, a spokesman for United Airlines, said in an emailed statement.

The mayday call prompted a full emergency response at the airport. Major roads around the airport were closed briefly as a precaution just after 6.30am, but reopened shortly after the plane landed safely.